Who's Your Momma?

I'm your Momma!!

This morning after my shower I peeked into Sebastian's room to find Jamie & Sebastian sitting in the big comfy chair relaxing. Sebastian saw me and while doing his usual "I'm so happy to see you giggle" exclaimed for the very first time "Momma!!!".

It was unbelievable... Not only has he never called me Momma before (or anything else for that matters!) it was totally in context too! Of course, he hasn't said it since this morning, but that's okay... it's the little things in life that make me happy. =)

Hope you have a day filled with little special moments too.
Kim

We just came back this past Saturday from having a wonderful week at the cottage. Our friends Kim, Christa and Griffin joined us for the first 4 days of our holiday and we had a lot of fun just hanging out and watching the kids play. Griffin, who is 2, was great with Sebastian and it was a lot of fun walking downstairs in the morning to hear Griffin exclaim "It's theBastian!". Some of our fun activities included going to Balm Beach, swimming in the lake, watching Griffin try fishing for the first time (the fun part was actually watching his mom's having to deal with the icky wiggly worms and having Christa retell how Griffin learned that worms wiggle when placed in his mouth!), hiking at Wye Marsh and spending time with our Aunt Lynda and Uncle Vince at the cottage and at Awenda Provincial Park, where Jamie was able to roast some marshmallows (I don't think I know anyone else who enjoys marshmallows as much as he does!).

Sebastian also had his 10 month birthday while we were away and it was fun to reflect on how much things change from month-to-month in the life of a baby. Last month he was scooting around the floor commando style, but now he's crawling (but still prefers to scoot) and pulling himself to stand on everything. With our assistance he's even taking a few steps and it's interesting to observe how he has begun to manipulate and play with his toys differently. For example, he has 8 stacking cups that he used to bang together. Now he has begun to place different objects into the cups to see what sounds they make when he shakes them. Sebastian is also much more vocal and loves to sing and dance. It's so cute to watch him wiggle is bum whenever a tune comes on.

Well, as always I am writing this during naptime and it is almost done. Today is Tuesday, which means it's Farmer's Market day so after Sebastian awakes from his nap we will be heading to the market to meet up with our friend Irene and her little girl Natalie (who's a few days younger than Sebastian) to have a picnic and to buy some fresh produce. It's overcast so hopefully we won't get rained on!

Cheers,
Kim

As I'm writing this Sebastian is upstairs having his afternoon nap and I'm sitting on the couch munching on carrots and hummus. Yum. We are currently, or shall I say I am, in the midst of getting ourselves prepared to leave on Saturday to go the cottage for a week. My co-worker James has been gracious enough to rent out his cottage in Tiny ON (Penetenguishine) to us and we're going to be joined by our friends Kim and Christa and their little boy Griffin for the first few days.

As this is our first official family vacation with Sebastian we are really looking forward to getting out of the city and spending time relaxing with him. Right now the only things we really have planned is to go into Awenda Provincial Park and visit with our Aunt Lynda and Uncle Vince one afternoon as well as travel to Midland to the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre. Other than that, you will find us at the lake directly across from the cottage or just lazying about and playing with Sebastian. I can't wait!!

I'm also looking forward to Jamie being able to experience the fun and enjoyment that I get by spending my days with Sebastian. Right now Jamie only gets about 2 hours a day to spend with him, one hour in the morning and an hour before bed, and it will be so nice to see him have the time to enjoy Sebastian as much as I do. Not that he doesn't enjoy his time, especially on the weekends, but the weekends go so fast!

Speaking of our lil' pumpkin, because I do realize you don't read this to hear about how I'm doing (!!), he's doing great. Sebastian has now started giving out kisses, albeit very sloppy open mouthed ones, and he is now beginning to develop his own sense of humour. It's really neat to watch him do something and then look at me with that gleam in his eye before he starts to laugh at his own actions. It was amazing this week when I realized that I was actually sharing a laugh with my son for the first time!

Well, nap time is almost over. We're going to be spending the rest of the afternoon with friends at the splashpad. Hope everyone has a good week and since the laptop is staying home (a week without the computer!!) I will hopefully have a nice update on our vacation when we return!

Stay well.
Kim

Since Sebastian's birth I have been keeping a regular journal of Sebastian's development and daily activities. Not only have I been doing so as a means to provide Sebastian with a record of his childhood, it also ensures that I don't forget some very important moments as I have now caught "mommy brain". Again... this is something I wish I would have known I could get! Supposedly it never goes away either. Heh... and to think I used to once strive on being organized!

Anyways, since it has taken me so long to develop this blog I figured that I would backtrack a bit and share what I had written in my journal to date. Enjoy!

5 Weeks Old
Sebastian is now 5 weeks and two days. Since turning 1 month there has been a noticeable difference in his development. Sebastian is now holding his head up high (has done this since birth), staying awake/alert for longer periods, noticing things i.e., bright toys, listening to music., lying on his back contently for longer periods, cooing and just beginning to follow things with his eyes (followed his dad dancing around the playpen on Oct. 26th, 2006)

Oct 27th - napped successfully in his crib!
Oct 28th - followed orange mobile bird with his eyes! Beginning to smile.

6 Weeks Old - Oct 31st
- 10lbs, 2oz, 22.4" long
- smiles back when smiled at
- has his first cold
- lies on his back, kicks his legs in the air
- content in playpen

2 Months!
- 11lbs, 4oz, 23" long
- Nov 2, 2006 - first snow!!!
- smiling and cooing a lot
- says "arrr" so we call him our Pirate Boy!
- likes tummy time
- rolled from belly to back
- playing on activity mat, kicking ball
- reaching for objects - still in co-sleeper
- listens to our sing-a-long cds
- schedule is as follows: eat, awake for a bit, then nap...repeat
- great focus
- likes new swing we bought for him
- smiles at the lights
- Niles is our new guard cat. She gets up in the night and lies in the nursery during our feedings and sleeps near Sebastian
- grabbing at soother
- squealed for the first time on Nov 21st
- has begun to rub his eyes when tired
- enjoys watching his mobile
- laughed for the first time on Nov 29th while having his chin washed by his dad during bath time!
- Dec 1st; first snow that actually remained on the ground!
- Dec 10th; pulled orange fish on his swing that made the lights and sound go off
- loves staring at his hands and placing them in his mouth
- lots of drool!
- Dec 17th; slept for 6 hours! Yippee!

3 Months!
- 12lbs, 15oz
Sebastian is cooing all the time, very very smiley, lies to sit in his bumbo seat and on laps, interacting more with his toys, likes to watch the tv when it is on (which is hardly ever), rolls from side-to-side, tolerates tummy time but only for approx. 2-4 minutes, content, looks in the mirror at himself and smiles, lies on his back on the blanket with his toys and is able to move around while on his back. We also went to our post natal classes at the hospital, where we met a nice group of mommies and babies that we are hoping to keep in touch with. - Dec 21st; peed in the tub! - Dec 22nd: turned on his fisher price aquarium all by himself! - Dec 25 & 26th: slept 7 hours both nights!! Yippee again!

4 Months!
- 14lbs, 3oz, 26" long
Sebastian laughs all the time, sits with support, enjoys tummy time for longer periods, grasps and reaches for toys, puts on the aquarium in the crib, has begun teething, will pull to a standing position if we are holding his arms/hands and sits in his exersaucer.

5 Months!
- 15lbs, 2oz, 27" long
Sebastian moves himself around in order to get toys that I have placed around the room, likes to play in his exersaucer, laughs when I make him smell my feet and his own, laughs when we say "Ah-choo!", rolls from side-to-side, starting to enjoy peek-a-boo, likes his cereal, almost rolling from back to belly, hardly rolls from belly to back, loves to kick his feet and his favourite toys are his crinkly butterfly and Uglydoll "Sourpuss".

We are right now taking postnatal yoga, which is okay but I spend half the time feeding Sebastian as opposed to actually doing yoga! After yoga we go to Beanies, the local coffee shop, with the yoga mommies for coffee and lunch. We also started attending a Public Health group called Baby & Me where we have met up with some of the mom's from our post natal group at the hospital. During group Sebastian enjoys lying on his stomach and looking at the other babies. We've also had to install our 3-in-1 car seat in the car as Sebastian was already too tall for his infant car seat! I was hoping the infant seat would have at least lasted until he was closer to a year!! Oh well, lesson learned: short people can have tall babies!
- 25 weeks: guiding spoon to his own mouth, crying when something he wants is taken away and has begun eating barley cereal

6 Months!
- 15lbs, 12oz, 27" long
Sebastian is now rolling independently from his back to his belly and he sits for longer periods without support. Sebastian continues to be very vocal and very smiley with lots of laughter. We are no longer going to yoga but we continue to meet up with the mommies at Beanies.

7 Months!
- 17lbs
What can't he do? Sebastian is 17lbs, sitting with limited support and rolling everywhere. He transfers toys from one hand to the next, bangs toys together and figures hot how to get toys he wants if they are placed away from him. Eats a variety of foods; cereal, banana, pear, sweet potato, squash, yogurt and his favourite, which is avocado. He is a great kid; lovable, likes to play with other children and just starting to develop stranger anxiety. Sebastian is also no longer co-sleeping with us and is now sleeping in his crib in his own room. As such we have had to do some sleep training with him but as a result, he is now sleeping through the night from 7 p.m. to approx. 7 a.m.! This is such a big improvement from him waking approx. 2-4 times a night wanting to feed and he is so much more content now during the day!

8 Months
Sebastian is now eating lots of different foods - avocado, pear, apple, banana, mango, peas, broccoli, beef, sweet potato, squash, cereal, and mum-mums (baby crack as I like to call them). We've started giving him cheerios but right now he only picks them up. He is also moving everywhere but not yet crawling per se, preferring to commando crawl instead. Sebastian sits without support but still needs to be watched. Also started saying "Da-Da" but has not yet made the connection. As of yet he has no teeth and he's as cute as pie. Sebastian also likes swimming and he finished attending our guardian swim class in early June. During our classes Sebastian was dunked underwater a number of times and didn't seem to mind! We continue to get together on Thurs. with the mom's from the public health group we took in Feb. Sebastian won't let me out of his sight and he gets very excited when his daddy comes home from work. He loves his musical toys and anything he can shake, including his cups. When he drops a toy he will look for it and he is now up on his knees in the "crawl" position. We are still breastfeeding and this was the first month that I can remember that I wasn't worried about having his weight checked! It's only taken me 8 months!!

Brilliant, lovable, amazing.


9 Months!
- 18lbs, 13.5oz, 28.75" long
Sebastian continues to amaze me daily. We keep ourselves quite busy by meeting up with friends for playdates at the park and we have started going to one of the Ontario Early Year Centres in the neighbourhood after his morning nap. Sebastian continues to be a good eater, eating approx. 6 cubes of food (in the portion of an ice cube) per meal and a number of finger foods now that he can actually place the food in his mouth (last month he was able to pick up the food but couldn't coordinate placing the food in his mouth). Sebastian is still toothless but that's okay... I don't have to worry about being bitten when breastfeeding and he looks so cute toothless! Sebastian is also learning how to pull himself to a standing position using other objects, such as his crib, where as before he would pull himself up when we would grab his hands and has been doing so since he was approx. 4 months. He has always been such a good boy while we are out in public and he continues to do so. He is constantly gabbing and loves the attention he gets from strangers. As for crawling; I'm thankful that it really isn't considered a milestone as he still prefers to commando crawl everywhere and he is quite fast at doing so.
- July 5th; Sebastian marked his Uncle Dan's birthday by actually crawling on his hands and knees!

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Ta-Da! There you have it, the last 9 months in a nutshell and to think, I was able to do this all in the span of Sebastian's afternoon nap (and he's still napping!)

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying the weekend!
Cheers,
Kim

It's About Time...

I can't believe how fast time flies. It only seems like yesterday that I was struggling with breastfeeding and Jamie and I were sitting in the nursery with a screaming Sebastian every 2 hours throughout the night. Now 9 months later, we're breastfeeding like pros and our lil' Sebastian is actually sleeping from 7 p.m. to roughly 7 a.m every night!

So, although I am so thankful we are no longer up every 2 hours to feed and we are now over the "Why didn't anyone warn me my baby could possibly scream for hours?", I can't help but feel nostalgic for days passed. But of course, truth be told, I really wouldn't change things for the world. I couldn't imagine our family without him. He has enriched us in so many little ways and I am awed on a daily basis as to the wonderment of Sebastian.

So, with that being said... I figured it was about time we created a blog to help keep our family & friends a little more up to date on the happenings of our lil' pumpkin. So please feel free to make comments and/or email and I will do my best to keep this site, unlike our previous sites at www.100acrewoods.ca/baby and www.100acrewoods.ca/photos, updated.

Cheers!
Kim